Executive 'burnout' costing billions

OVERWORKED corporate leaders need annual "mental health checks" to avoid executive burnout, a condition that costs business billions of dollars each year in lost productivity and stress leave.

Burnout is one of the few mental disorders recognised by Work Safe Australia as directly caused by too much work and it contributes to a $20 billion "stress bill" businesses foot each year.

High achieving execs are at the highest risk and their slow journey to complete burnout can impact entire companies and spill out into home life and relationships.

Robyn McNeill knows only too well how damaging burnout can be; she nearly lost her family and her life to it when she was struggling to maintain her high pressure project management job.

"The first episode of burnout I had was when I walked out on my two kids and their father because I couldn’t cope," Ms McNeill, who now helps other sufferers as the director of beatingburnout.com.au, recalls.

"It was fight or flight syndrome, and I chose flight. I didn’t realise I had burnout, I thought my marriage was the problem, I was blaming everyone else."

ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM BURNOUT? Tell us below

But the feelings of exhaustion, anxiety, isolation and anger continued to build, even though Ms McNeill remained in denial.

"I was mentally exhausted and unable to cope with situations I could normally deal with. One day I told my husband to take all the sleeping tablets and throw them away because if he didn’t, I would take them all."

It was the drastic push she needed to finally get medical help and counselling to understand what was wrong.

Now, as what she calls a burnout survivor, Ms McNeill knows her situation was all too preventable had she sought that help earlier on.

"It is a journey to burnout," she explains. "It starts with stress but if you take no action, the symptoms get worse. You start to lose clarity of thinking, the ability to make good decisions or to be creative, your physical and mental health are in decline. You need to identify what is going on and take action early."

Clinical psychologist Dr Simon Kinsella wants businesses to arrange a yearly annual mental health check for top employees like one he has devised at the Institute of Performance and Well Being.

An independent assessment, he says, would help tackle the issue of sufferers’ themselves not wanting to admit there is a problem.

"I am definitely seeing more cases of executive burnout. Executives and CEOs have a higher level of pressure to deal with such as mergers or insolvencies. But they have very driven personalities, they feel weak if they are not coping, and they fear if they show signs of weakness, the culture at executive level will see them as vulnerable," Dr Kinsella says.

Plus, if companies invest in checking the mental health of key staff, they can save a fortune in retention and attrition down the line.

It is the human cost however, that has made fighting burnout Ms McNeill’s passion.

"My concern is that there are a lot of people living in quiet desperation. They are too busy to take the time to address the problem. They don’t understand life is quality over quantity."

Admitting the problem is much of the battle won, Dr Kinsella agrees.

"Its self awareness and it’s looking for the signs particularly around sleep, diet and exercise. If you are doing those well, you increase your capacity to handle a heavy workload."

For survivors such as Ms McNeill, beating burnout means being constantly vigilant about allowing bad habits to return.

"I have to manage it on a daily basis and will do for the rest of my life," she says. "You have to be aware of the riggers to your stress, but habits are hardwired, so you need to create new wiring by understanding what is going on in your brain."

ON THE BRINK OF BURNOUT?

Recognising burnout early is crucial to avoiding it having a disastrous effect on every area of your life...if you have any of these symptoms, you may be on the brink of burnout:

1. CAN’T SLEEP? Restlessness and broken sleep patterns is a common sign that you are under too much stress.

2. MOOD SWINGS. Men often show their burnout as aggression, women are more likely to cry for what seems little reason.

3. NOT EATING PROPERLY. Losing your appetite or simply not having enough time to make sure you have a balanced diet.4. JUST NOT COPING. Ordinary, everyday tasks seem too difficult to handle but you don’t know why you feel so overwhelmed

5. SIGNS OF DEPRESSION. High achievers often aren’t keen to admit they have feelings of depression or anxiety.6. LAYING BLAME. Lashing out at colleagues or staff at work, or blaming your partner or family for how you feel.

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